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Their Troops Quit When Taliban, Al Qaeda Leaders Break
Thursday, November 29, 2001
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

"We conducted air strikes (Nov. 27) in four planned target areas concentrated against Taliban and Al Qaeda cave and tunnel complexes and support infrastructure in the Jalalabad area, as well as emerging targets in the south, which included command and control elements and Taliban military forces," Rear Adm. Stufflebeem said.

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
There will always be enemy diehards who will fight to the death, "but if we break the leadership of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, there's reduced motivation for troops to stay loyal to the cause and continue to fight," Navy Rear Adm. John D. Stufflebeem told reporters during a Pentagon news briefing today.

"Therefore, the pressure is on that leadership," the admiral said. "We're doing it in a multitude of ways. Initially, we're talking about getting at the legs of the stool that supported that leadership. With much of that now gone, and much of the leadership in hiding and trying to survive, the pressure is being applied to shrink down the areas where they can (hide). Then, they make the decision whether they're going to surrender or fight to the death."

The Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders are trying to communicate by radio and face-to-face meetings, but in some cases, they've been isolated and their communications are totally severed, said Stufflebeem, Joint Staff deputy director of operations for current readiness and capabilities.

"The effect … is that the troops under their control are not going to know what they should be doing," he said. "Anytime you can dismantle the leadership or the chain of command, you then have groups of troops who are uncoordinated, uncontrolled and therefore much less effective." To say that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden still call the shots would be an overstatement, he said.
(More: DefenseLink.Mil News Source)
2001 © American Forces Press Service.

Dan